Baby&#39;s shoe



E. SANCHEZ A ril 28, 1959 BABY S SHOE 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed May 13, 1957 INVENTOR f/w/gwf JJWI/KflcZ HTTUR NEY April 28, 1959 SANCHEZ 2,883,771

BABYS SHOE Filed May 13, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f .1' g .2 E. P I I INVENTOR.

1 1 -15- BY Q g I. TTURNE'Y United States Patent BABY'S SHOE Enrique Sanchez, New York, NY.

Application May 13, 1957, Serial No. 658,838

1 Claim. (Cl. 36-50) This invention relates to the art of footwear and particularly concerns a novel infants shoe construction.

Heretofore it has been found difiicult to place a conventional laced type shoe u'ponthe foot 'of an infant or young child because of the natural tendency of the infant or child to stiffen the arch of the foot and leg. Furthermore, the child tends to move his leg during lacing. The use of lacing on infants shoes has also proven objectionable because of the tendency of the laces to loosen. Also securing and tying the laces require additional operations which are time-consuming and laborious. The provision of laces and eyelets or lacing holes in the shoe also increases the cost of the shoe.

The foregoing difiiculties and disadvantages are overcome in the present invention by provision of a laceless shoe construction. The upper portion of the shoe at the back is provided with a slide fastener closure which permits the foot of the infant or child to be inserted into the shoe through the back thereof. A tongue member is provided at the back of the shoe to cover the slide fastener so that the infant cannot reach the slider of the slide fastener to open the closure. The shoe is made of a few simple standardized parts so that it is well adapted to mass production methods of manufacture and can be produced at low cost.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the invention to provide an infants shoewith an opening at the rear closed by a slide fastener.

It is a further object to provide a laceless type of infants shoe with a slide fastener covered at the interior and exterior of the shoe by a tongue which is secured at the exterior of the shoe by a snap fastener.

It is a further object to provide a childs shoe of the character described manufactured from simple standardized patterns.

Another object of the invention is to provide a laceless type of infants shoe that is readily put on and taken off I of an infants foot.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an infants shoe embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the shoe taken on the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the shoe.

Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view of the shoe.

Fig. 5 is a rear elevational view of the shoe with the tongue extended.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a portion of the shoe with the rear closure opened.

Fig. 7 is a rear elevational view of the shoe with the closure opened.

2,883,771 Patented Apr. 28, 1959 Figs. 8 through 13 are plan views of shoe pieces employed in manufacturing the shoe.

Fig. 14 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing modified means for attaching the tongue to the shoe upper.

Fig. 15 is an elevational view similar to Fig. 3 showing the free end of the tongue of Fig. 14 in fastened condition.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 through 6 of the drawings, there is shown a shoe 18 having the upper portion 19 of its body formed from a single piece of sheet material 20, such as leather, plastic, composition sheet material or cloth. This sheet 20, as shown in Fig. 11, before assembly, is substantially rectangular in shape, with a semicircular cutout 21 at one side thereof. The ends 22 of the sheet 20 define the rear opening for the shoe. A plug member 23 closes the cutout 21 and is secured by stitches or lacing 24 to the edge wall of the cutout. The shape of the plug member 23 is clearly shown in Fig. 10. This is a fiat piece with curved tapered sides 25 and with its narrow end 26 curved. Sheet 20 is secured to the flat outer sole 27 along the peripheral edge 28 thereof. An upper heel counter section or cover 30 is provided at the heel of the shoe. This counter section is best shown in Fig. 8, before assembly. It is generally rectangular and has an upwardly extending tongue portion 31 in which is secured a centrally disposed female fastener element 32. Counter section 30 is secured by stitching 33 to the sides of the upper portion 19 of the shoe.

At the rear of the shoe, in the interior thereof, an elongated generally rectangular tongue 35, best shown in Fig. 12, is secured at one end to the base of the counter section 30 at its center by stitching 34, as shown in Fig. 2. The tongue is a rather wide member and its length is about twice the height of the shoe. Except for its attachment at its bottom end, its entire length is unattached with respect to the upper portion 19. The curved edge 26 of plug member 23 and the upper edges 36, 36 of the shoe upper 19 define the opening at the top of the shoe.

Tape members 37, 37 carrying interlocking elements 38, 38 of a slide fastener are secured to the edges 22 of the opening in the upper portion 19 of the shoe at its rear by stitching 39, and the opening is opened and closed by a slide fastener member 40 slidable on the elements 38, 38. The tongue 35 is provided at its other end with a male snap fastener element 41 which is adapted to engage the corresponding fastener element 32 on tongue 31.

When the rear of the shoe is closed as shown in Figs. 1-4 the slider 40 of the slide fastener is located near the top of the shoe and tongue 35 extends upwardly at the back of the shoe over the top thereof and down and over the top end of the counter section 30. Snap fastener elements 32 and 41 are engaged. In this position of the parts the slider 40 is concealed by the tongue 35.

When the rear of the shoe is opened as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the slider 40 is drawn downwardly to its extreme lowermost position. Edges 22 are widely separated since the interlocking elements 38, 38 of the slide fastener are disengaged completely. Tongue 35 is then bent outwardly of theshoe, as best shown in Figs. 6 and 7. This provides a wide opening at the rear of the shoe intersecting with the top opening for insertion of the infants foot. After the foot of the infant is inserted into the shoe wih member 23 overlying the arch of the foot, the tongue 35 is drawn upwardly as shown in Fig. 5. The slider 40 is then drawn up to close the opening at the rear. The tongue 35 is next bent over as shown in Fig. 4 so as to snap the fastener elements 41 on to element 32 to complete the closure of the shoe at the rear.

shoe parts are all that are necessary for assembly ofthe shoe. This shoe construction is readily adapted to menufacture by mass production methods at low cost.

In Figs. 14 and 15, a modified means for securing the tongue 35' to-the upper pottion 19 of the shoe and for securinglthefree end of the ton-gueto-thecountep sec tion or heel cover 30' of the shoe upper is shown. In this modification, the tongue 35' is secured along one of lits long edgesrto the edge. ofone, of the ends 22 of the shoe upper at the rear by a line of-stitching 50,- the re: rnainder of the tongue being unattached. -rWith -vthis,.constructiornrthe free end of the tongue is :heldin a-convenient, position out of the interference with-the moving parts ofthe slide fastener, .1 v, a \j The male snapfastening element 40' on the tongue 35' projects outwardly and thel female fastening ,element 32' on thelcounter section or -,heel.cover Salli-opens, inwardly so that .when. thetongue is turned ,over upon itself the fastener elementAO. is projecting in a direction -readyto he rinserted into the fastener element, 32', andwhenc-the fastener elements are in locking engagementQ-the, free end, of thQlODgUB-BS' is onuthe, inside, ofthe 'counter section 3.0 that is, inwardly, of -the.heel,covers32' so that it is difiicultfor an infantgto, get hold of it for pulling in effort toopentheshoe s While I. have illustrated and described the preferred embodirnents of,my invention, it is to beaunderstorodc-thatv-l do,;.not limit myself to the precise constructionsherein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be-vmade within the scope oftheainventionas defined in theappended claim. :r 1

. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as Is: i ,1

An infants shoe comprising a sole, an upper portion new, and desire to secure byUnited States Letters Patent 3 a on the sole having an opening at the rear extending from the top to the bottom thereof, tapes sec-ured along the edges of said asaid opening slide fastening elementsfastened on the adjacent edges of said tapes, a slider member slidable on said elements for actuating said elements into open and closed positions, a cover secured to the upper portion at the rear thereof adjacent the sole, said cover having an unattached portion extending over the bottom end of said tapes a ferna-le snap fastener element on said unattached portion opening inwardly, an elongated rectangular shaped flexible tongue-member disposed inside said tapes for; covering'saidslide fastening elements and being secured along one long edge to the inner surface of one endofi the upper por-tion adjacent -the=respective tape, the remainder of said tongue";member being unattached, said tongue member being twice as long as the height of the upper portion of the shoe, said tongue member extending downwardly to the sole, inside the cover, and a male snap fastener element on the free end of said tongue member positioned sothat whensaid tongue memben is, turned upon-itself, sa-id male-tftstener' element projects in adirectioii adapted :td'engage said fe-male'fastener element, the s free rend .of. said @tongue --member*when said snap fastener elements-are in engagement; being" inside thelcover. a

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITE D -STATES PATENTS 1 948,338 1 "M cMasti- "'JFeb. s, 1910 1,515,086 Baluta Novnll, 1924 2,494,770 MacLaughlin Jan. 17, 1950 .Dec- 32,, i9 

